Synonyms for "Liar"

Thousands of synonyms, euphemisms and collocations are used every day to describe that odd human tendency to tell porkies. This excellent Speccy post opts for that well-varnished old standard, the reflexive verb-phrase applicable to all those who are either confused, are trying to mislead or are forced to change their stories under pressure: "to contradict oneself". The person "contradicting himself" in this case is, surprise surprise, rodental arch Labourist, Jack Straw.

One question that arises from the publication the Lockerbie documents is why Jack Straw suddenly decided against excluding al-Megrahi from the PTA? Straw justified his change of heart on the grounds of "overwhelming national interests", though trade and commercial interests were not a contributing factor in that calculation, a point he reiterated last weekend. But, in an interview with the Telegraph today, Straw contradicts himself:

'"Yes, it (trade deals with Libya) was a very big part of that (including al-Megrahi in the PTA). I'm unapologetic about that. Libya was a rogue state. We wanted to bring it back into the fold and trade is an essential part of it - and subsequently there was the BP deal."'

This revelation lends credence to Saif al-Islam's insistence that Megrahi's release or transfer was always a pre-condition of UK Libyan agreements, and undermines Straw's, David Miliband's, Lord Mandelson's and Gordon Brown's righteous indignation about being accused of 'double dealing'. Once again, there are more questions to answer about this whole case.

If I "contradicted myself" over anything I did professionally, I'd be out of a job (eventually). Then again, I suppose if every politician that lied - or "contradicted themselves" - was fired for it, we'd have no politicians. Now there's a thought...

The point is not to get caught. Brown and his useless ministers (like this Straw man) have been lying and lying and lying since Day 1 of their seizing power in '07 - and they've been getting caught all the time. Why hasn't this government fallen yet? It's a fair question.

I can only conclude that something really is wrong with this country. I wonder what it is.

PS: Any reader out there who hasn't already seen it will want to know that Barking Spider's post on rat Straw's lousy squirming over the terrorist-for-oil scandal is really excellent.